make: chocolate cashew ginger candies (guten-free!)

Just a few ingredients pack a powerful tasty punch! This is a roundabout recipe, something I make without measuring. There was a variation of the recipe once form a book I no longer have that used graham crackers and macadamia nuts but darn if macadamia nuts aren't so expensive, so I made up this recipe instead...

Here's what I used...
*1 pack (8oz) of gluten free ginger snaps from Trader Joe's
*2 10oz bags bittersweet chocolate chips (guitard)
*2 10-12oz  bags milk chocolate chips (guitard is a fave)
*1 1/2 cups or so of lightly salted cashew pieces
*1/2-1 cup candied ginger chips
*flake sea salt

 

These chocolates are not labor intensive but do take a while to make as the chocolate needs to set between dippings. Make sure to clear space in your fridge or freezer for a cookie sheet to rest without toppling over. Fill a medium to large soup pot with water and place a heat proof bowl on top making sure the water does not touch the bowl. Dump both bags of bittersweet chips into the bowl and let them melt. Stir every now and then to distribute that heat. While the chocolate is melting, place cookies into a plastic bag and roll over with a rolling pin to crunch them up a bit. They will crumble a lot so don't roll until you have only crumbs, leave a few chunky bits in there. When chocolate is melted, remove from heat and add your cookie pieces, ginger chips and cashews. Stir until combined. The chocolate will be glossy and the mixture will be loose.

 

 

Use two spoons to drop very small blobs of the mixture onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment or wax paper (they will not be pretty). You can go bigger but they are very difficult to bite through and enjoy when they are more than a mouthful (but cutting them half has its advantages). Think almond sized blobs. You can place the blobs fairly close together to use up as much space as possible on the cookie sheet. Place in your refrigerator or freezer for fifteen minutes or until set. I had to use three cookie sheets for this but only had room for one sheet at a time in the fridge. This part can be done a few days before the next round of dipping.

 

 

Once the chocolate is set it is time for round two of dipping. Pour one bag of milk chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl. I use a four cup measuring cup. You want the container to be taller than wide so that the chocolate, once melted, is deep enough for dipping. Melt in 30 second increments and stir in between. Make sure your container is absolutely dry and that you check on your chocolate. Both water and over heating can seize it making it unusable. Once your chocolate is melted, use a fork and your fingers to coat each piece of candy, placing it back onto your covered cookie sheet. To make this easier, remove all of the to-be-dipped pieces and put them on a plate or in a bowl before you begin. When your cookie sheet is full add a pinch of sea salt to the top of each candy. Return to fridge to set. To use up as much chocolate as possible, use a spatula to scrape sides of container. I usually abandon my fork by the third piece and end up with one hand completely covered in chocolate. To finish of the remaining chocolates, add your second bag of chips to the container and return to the microwave for melting. By the time you finish dipping the last round your cookie sheet in the fridge should be set.

 

These are crazy good candies! I made these gluten-free as I was bringing them to a potluck where I knew someone was gluten-sensitive. Not all chocolate chips are gluten-free so do your research before you get to melting the whole shebang. The ginger chips from The Ginger People are gluten-free and super tasty. If you do not need gluten-free chocolates, go wild! Chop up a fancy candy bar and use nutter butter cookies or pie crust or oreos! I did up one batch last week and ran out of milk chocolate for dipping (I only used one bag) so I popped the candies that needed to be double dipped into a container and did them a few days later when I had more chocolate. I also had only used two-thirds of the crumbs so used made up another whole batch. By the end of all the dipping I was left with three candies un-double-dipped. They were pretty tasty too, not so pretty to look at but yummy all the same.

Pop a bunch of sweets into a wax bag, add a pretty tag and gift away!  Throw a candy making party where people bring different nuts and cookies, customize the candies for friends with allergies, add dried cranberries or chop up candied orange peels...soooo many ways to make these! Happy Holidays!

make your own facial scrub

Back in the days when my reading material consisted of young miss and Sassy I faithfully tore out pages on skin care and make up how-tos. My routine generally was to slather my face with Noxzema and call it a day but after my sister gave me a heap of Estee Lauder products I found I liked the fancy-pants department store goodies far better than my drugstore knock-offs. My favorite bit of goodness was a tall aqua container that contained a scrub of milky goodness called Cleansing Milk Grains. Eventually I used up that whole container and marched off to my May Company to pick up a new container only to find that there was a reason I stuck with drugstore knock-offs...ahem...the fancypants cleansing grains cost thrity-two smackeroos! I feared my sixteen year old self would forever be a Wet N Wild girl (in some ways that holds true but we won't talk about that) until a study of the ingredients revealed I could kind of, sort of make my own and so I did and still I do. Here is an updated version for you to make and share. 

Calendula Milk Mask

*one envie powered milk

*1/4 cup corn meal

*1 T calendula blossoms

*mortar & pestle

*drop or two of lavender oil (optional)

*happy jar

 This diy facial cleanser/scrub/mask is ridiculously easy to put together. Simply combine ingredients into a mortar and crush out any lumpy bits to a fine powder. You can skip this if you like but powdered milk and cornmeal tend to be pretty gritty. If you do not have a mortar and pestle, place ingredients into a plastic bag and roll with a rolling pin or pour into a food processor and pulse until fine.

 Since you are going to be using this on your skin I would recommend using organic cornmeal and milk  though you do not have to. Back in the 80s when I first made this I used our basic non-organic kitchen staples. Calendula blossoms are not necessary but they do add a bit of pretty if you are gifting this. Calendula is often used in products for people with eczema and/or sensitive skin and can be found online or at your local organic market where the bulk herbs and teas are usually displayed.

Blend it all together and pour into a small happy jar or container. If using lavendar essential oil, add a drop or two (no more) to the mixture and blend. 

 To use, splash warm water onto your face then place a small spoonful of mixture onto your palm, add a few drops of water and mix using your pointer and index fingers on the opposite hand until you get a paste. Apply to face in a circular motion and rinse or leave on until dry then rinse. I do this on mornings when I am going to be at work or out and about (two to three times a week). I find it invigorates my skin and it makes me feel a smidge more presentable.  

Enjoy!